


Connection

by Feriku



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, M/M, Neck Kissing, Other characters have minor roles, Telepathy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-28
Updated: 2019-04-28
Packaged: 2020-02-09 06:41:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18632854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feriku/pseuds/Feriku
Summary: Jesper always wondered when he would meet his soulmate. When someone else's panicked thoughts interrupt him in the middle of lunch, he knows his soulmate is close at last.





	Connection

Sometimes Jesper wondered if they would be happier without soulmates.

He liked to flirt, and he’d dated his share of both boys and girls at their school, but those moments were always overshadowed by the knowledge it couldn’t last.

Of course, some people rejected their soulmates, but he wanted to at least meet his first.

He’d always been a bit jealous of the people who found their soulmates in high school, like his friend Nina, but he’d eventually resigned himself to the fact that he’d have to wait. As a freshman in college, he’d been hopeful every time he passed another student, but nothing happened beyond a few false alarms that turned out to be his own imagination. He began to worry he might not even meet his soulmate in college, but would have to wait until afterwards—and since he didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life and wasn’t even sure why he’d let his dad talk him into college, that was an alarming prospect.

So when a voice suddenly cut through his thoughts in the middle of lunch with his friends on the first day of their sophomore year, he nearly choked on his food.

_Don’t panic don’t panic don’t panic he can’t do anything here don’t panic!_

Jesper coughed and took a drink of water, even as he tried not to let the flurry of thoughts convince his mind that he, too, should be panicking.

“Are you all right?” Inej asked.

He blinked across the table at her. “I…”

On one hand, he should be happy, because it seemed like he’d finally encountered his soulmate. On the other hand, the stream of consciousness was getting more frantic by the minute.

_It’s just a letter just a letter someone could read it who can I trust to read it?_

“Um…” He rubbed his head and tried to will the voice to quiet down at least a little.

For years, he assumed hearing his soulmate’s thoughts for the first time would be a warm, romantic experience. That was how they showed it in movies, after all, and it was how Nina described her first meeting with Matthias.

Then he became friends with Inej, who confided in him that the first time Kaz’s thoughts popped into her mind, she nearly had a heart attack.

At least Jesper’s soulmate wasn’t a maniac. But…

_They can’t kick me out they can’t they can’t they can’t I deserve to be here too_

Nina’s eyes lit up with understanding and she broke into a huge smile. “Are you hearing your soulmate’s thoughts?”

“Yes.” Jesper rubbed his head. “And he’s really upset about something.”

Suddenly, a terrible possibility struck him. Early on, soulmates didn’t have much control over which thoughts were shared. What if his soulmate, in the middle of his anxiety, heard Jesper’s frustration about having these thoughts in his head?

To meet his soulmate at last and drive him away before they even met would be the worst possibility of all.

Despite the cacophony of fear and distress bouncing around his mind, Jesper concentrated as hard as he could on his happiness that after all this time, he’d finally found his soulmate.

The flurry of thoughts abruptly ceased, replaced by confusion.

_Soulmate?_

And then…

_I have a soulmate?_

“He’s here somewhere,” Jesper said, hardly able to contain his excitement. “He must be on campus!”

One consistent rule was that soulmates had to be within a certain distance of each other for their first contact.

He jumped to his feet. “Let’s go look for him!”

Kaz rolled his eyes and didn’t move, but Inej, Nina, and Matthias rose to follow Jesper. Between the four of them, surely they could track down his soulmate.

# 

That night, Jesper lay awake in his dorm room. He hadn’t found his soulmate, but the other man’s thoughts had intermittently reached him throughout the day. The confusion had remained, an insistent buzzing of disbelief about what happened. For some reason, his soulmate had assumed he was one of the rare people who had no match.

The panic had returned once or twice, but it was less sharp than it had been at first. Jesper liked to think his own thoughts had some influence on that.

As evening approached, his soulmate’s thoughts took on a strange form. At first he thought he was doing homework, but the repetitive nature of the words soon convinced him he was memorizing something instead.

Great. He’d gotten a studious little nerd as his soulmate.

And there was absolutely nothing wrong with that. Jesper concentrated as hard as he could on wanting to meet his soulmate, threw in a dirty joke for good measure, and fell asleep thinking about him.

# 

In addition to the distance requirement, another established rule of soulmate telepathy was that you could not share your own name through the connection until you had established a solid link by acknowledging each other in person.

It was possible to play guessing games once the connection stabilized enough for communication, but the easiest method was just to find them.

Jesper had never been more excited for his classes. Somewhere on campus, his soulmate waited for him. As he sat down in an English class he’d skipped the year before but needed for graduation, he drummed his pencil against the desk. Surely his soulmate’s thoughts would return and give him some clue…

“Turn to page 5,” the teacher said.

He reluctantly opened his book so at least he’d look like he was paying attention—and nearly jumped out of his seat. The words on the page were familiar, even though he’d never read them before…

It was what his soulmate had been memorizing the previous night.

Jesper looked around at his classmates. There were multiple sections of the class, but could it be? Was his soulmate sitting there in the room with him?

The teacher called on a student to read out loud. Great, it was going to be one of _those_ classes. Jesper suppressed a groan of frustration; he’d have to make a better effort to stay vaguely invested in the class even though he’d rather be thinking about his—

_It’s okay it’s okay I have it memorized it’ll be fine_

He jumped again at the return of the panic. The girl reading out loud seemed to be just fine, and the voice in his head sounded distinctly male. But this made him more convinced than ever that his soulmate was there somewhere…

Unless his soulmate was in a different section, knew from Jesper’s thoughts that they’d be reading out loud, and was anxious about his upcoming class. He shook his head. This sort of thinking would give him a headache.

# 

In the evening, the same routine started up again. This time, it was easier to tell what was going on. His soulmate was listening to some sort of audiobook and memorizing the words.

The memorization ended earlier than it had the previous night, and instead he started practicing music. Jesper froze, distracted by the unfamiliar thoughts. He’d never played music in his life and had no idea how to read it, but music notes were flitting into his thoughts with what they meant in terms of playing the… flute? Was his soulmate playing the flute?

“Are you hearing him again?” Matthias asked from the other side of the room.

“Yes. Shh.”

For once, it paid to have Matthias as his roommate. He was a hopeless romantic, so he understood and probably approved of Jesper’s desire to enjoy the connection with his soulmate in peace. He didn’t say another word.

Jesper wished he could hear the music, but this strange insight into his soulmate’s mind was interesting enough. He could almost see the other man’s fingers on the flute. He wondered what else he could do with his hands…

The music-reading abruptly halted, replaced by embarrassment.

Oops. Well, he couldn’t help his curiosity. His soulmate would have to get used to that, if they were going to be together.

_But what if he doesn’t like me?_

For a second, he wasn’t sure if it was his own thought, or his soulmate’s.

_I wouldn’t mind it, if he’s nice._

_I wonder if he’s hot?_

Jesper laughed out loud. His soulmate wasn’t entirely put off by his thoughts, then. Good. Once they met, hopefully it wouldn’t take too long before they kissed. Maybe he’d let Jesper kiss his neck, too. Yes, that sounded nice…

His fantasies about what it would be like to kiss his soulmate’s neck were interrupted by a sudden resurgence in music, as if his soulmate was trying to distract himself. Jesper vowed to keep better control on his fantasies until their connection stabilized.

A hint of disappointment on the other end made him grin. Maybe he didn’t have to stop _all_ his fantasizing. 

#

By the next week, Jesper still hadn’t found his soulmate, although the cycle of panic, disbelief over having a soulmate, and evening memorization of textbooks continued without fail. At this rate, Jesper would know his soulmate’s entire schedule before he met him, just because he seemed intent on memorizing everything ahead of time.

He couldn’t read, Jesper realized suddenly, as he walked to class. That explained his panic that first day about finding someone to read a letter for him. Well if they could just meet, _he’d_ read whatever his soulmate needed.

A sudden rush of surprised appreciation made him nearly walk into a wall. His soulmate must have heard that last thought.

For the last few nights, he’d sensed flattered embarrassment in response to his mostly-accidental, less-than-proper thoughts about what the two of them might do together, so at least his soulmate was open to the idea. If anything, the major obstacle was a distinct worry that Jesper wouldn’t want him once they met.

Well, the biggest obstacle was that they still hadn’t met. But they’d overcome that.

Jesper sat down in the English class where he hoped his soulmate might be.

“Open your books to page 121,” the teacher said.

“121?” The objection came from a young man who sat near the front of the room, a freshman with reddish hair and a face that made him look like he should still be in high school. “The syllabus said we’d be reading the part from page 89 today.”

“I had to rearrange a few things,” the teacher said. “Is that a problem, Wylan?”

He quickly shook his head. “No sir.”

“Good. You can read first.”

Wylan looked like he was about to pass out, but Jesper had stopped paying attention. He’d opened his book to page 121 as instructed, and for the first time since the semester started, the chapter wasn’t familiar. His soulmate hadn’t memorized this part.

Of course, Wylan’s objection had been over the syllabus, right? His soulmate must have based his memorization on what was listed there. Idly, Jesper began to read, wondering if his soulmate would be surprised when he picked up on his thoughts or if he was in their class and therefore already knew.

Wylan began reading the passage out loud, although he kept stammering.

What made him so nervous? This was hardly a high-pressure class. Then again, the teacher had gone after him just for asking a question about the syllabus. Jerk.

Jesper played with the pages of his book. This was boring. He didn’t want to sit in class and actually pay attention; he had much more important things to—

“Is something wrong, Wylan?” the teacher asked, impatience clear in his voice.

“N-No! I just…”

With a jolt, Jesper realized Wylan had stopped reading. Had it happened when Jesper’s mind wandered? Was it _possible_? The waves of panic crashing over his thoughts suggested yes.

Jesper scanned the page and tried to find the last part he’d read, and started reading again.

With relief audible in his voice, Wylan also started reading—no, not _reading_ , repeating the words he could hear Jesper saying in his mind. That explained the pauses and stammering; any time Jesper’s attention drifted or he skimmed a section, Wylan didn’t know what it said.

So although Jesper never thought he’d be paying this much attention to such a boring assignment, he kept his focus strictly on the passage, word by word, until the teacher finally said Wylan could stop.

Wylan slumped back against his chair. He looked like he was going to be sick. Jesper, on the other hand, couldn’t withhold giddy excitement. He’d found his soulmate! Wylan was his soulmate!

A bright blush crept over Wylan’s face, and he looked around the room. Jesper tried to meet his gaze, but his scan lasted only a second before he hunched his shoulders and looked at his desk again. His thoughts were panicked, mainly worried his soulmate wouldn’t like him, but also cautiously hopeful.

The rest of the class passed in a blur.

As soon as they finished, Wylan took another peek around the room, blushed again, and fled into the hall.

Jesper grabbed his things and raced after him. “Wylan!”

Wylan froze.

Jesper caught up and slowed down. “I…” Suddenly, he didn’t know what to say. He wanted this, he had the impression his soulmate would be happy to see him, but… but what if Wylan looked at him and didn’t… didn’t want this to go any further.

Wylan turned toward him at last and offered a shy smile. “Of course I do. I… I’d like to get to know you.”

“I’m Jesper.”

“Wylan.” He cleared his throat. “I guess you already knew that.”

“What happened back there”—Jesper waved his hand toward the classroom—“if you want to keep doing that, so you don’t have to, you know, memorize things, that’s fine. I can pay attention in one class for my soulmate.”

Wylan looked down at the ground. “Um. Thanks.”

“Or if you want me to read to you, I can do that. Or if you need help finding the right resources to, uh… handle your…” Jesper wasn’t entirely sure how to describe it, and the mix of shame and fear coming through to him from Wylan’s thoughts wasn’t making it any easier. “I mean, whatever you want to do, I’ve got your back.”

_Resources?_

_But he’d be angry and what would I—_

_No, he can’t hurt me here._

“If anyone lays a finger on you,” Jesper said, “they’ll meet a very angry Jesper.”

Wylan still didn’t meet his gaze. “Thanks.”

“Will you come with me to meet my friends?”

“You… want me to?”

Of course he did. He wanted to waltz in with his arm around Wylan’s waist and show them how cute his soulmate was. He wanted to kiss Wylan where they all could see. He wanted to sit with Wylan long after everyone else had gone and—

Wylan blushed. “Y-Yes, I can hear you do.”

“It’ll get easier to manage,” Jesper said, excited and panicked at the same time. “Once you meet your soulmate, that’s when you’re able to control which thoughts are shared.”

“Right,” Wylan said, “you won’t have to be bothered by all my—”

Jesper spoke over his attempted self-deprecation. “You won’t have to hear my fantasies about you anymore.” He winked.

As he’d hoped, Wylan stopped mid-sentence and blushed harder. “I…”

_It’s not like I mind hearing them._

Maybe he ought to make it clearer that he could close off his thoughts now that they’d met.

_Before we leave, would you do the thing?_

On second thought, if Wylan had enough control to send a thought as vague as _do the thing_ , he probably wanted Jesper to hear these thoughts.

“Sorry,” Jesper said with a teasing grin, “but ‘the thing’? Could you be a little more specific?”

_The thing you wanted to do to me._

There were many things Jesper wanted to do with Wylan, but he had a feeling he knew which one he meant. The one that had been shared clearly enough to leave an impression on him, even if he’d pretended to ignore it.

Jesper stepped close to Wylan, careful to give him enough time to back out if he wanted, then lowered his lips to his neck.

The kiss involved a lot less giggling, blushing, and squirming when he imagined it, but the reality was better than fantasy. He ran his fingers through Wylan’s hair and then gave him a proper kiss on the lips as well.

Wylan’s returning kiss was tentative, but his thoughts left no doubt that he enjoyed it, aside from anxiety that his own kisses wouldn’t be good enough. Jesper made no attempt to hide any of his thoughts, happy to let his blushing soulmate hear exactly how much he liked this.

“Come on.” Jesper wrapped his arm around Wylan’s waist. “I really want to introduce you to my friends.”

“Okay. I’d like that.”

_I really have a soulmate? What if there’s a mistake? What if—_

His thoughts cut off so abruptly he must have realized he was still sharing them. Jesper wanted to punch whoever left him so convinced he couldn’t have a soulmate.

Wylan rested his head on Jesper’s shoulder. “It’s okay. He can’t hurt me here.”

Jesper didn’t say a word. He left his thoughts speak for him, his feelings of protectiveness and hope. In return, the anxiety faded from Wylan’s thoughts. As they walked out together, their connection was filled with warmth and peace.

**Author's Note:**

> I've never written a soulmate AU before or had much interest in it, but I saw a cute prompt about soulmates being able to hear each other's thoughts and couldn't stop imagining that in a Wylan/Jesper context. I hope you enjoyed it!


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